Contemporary Ceramics gallery and shop exhibits the greatest collectable names in British ceramics along with the most up and coming artists of today. Our distinguished makers are all carefully selected members of the Craft Potters Association.
All of our makers are members of the Craft Potters Association and each of them have a story to tell.
Taja came over to UK from his native country Japan to study oil painting and settled in Devon over 40 years ago. He was inspired by so many potters in the south west, so he started making pots using his friend’s pottery workshop. He is largely self-taught. He found that slab and coil built pottery suits him the most. He started experimenting with porcelain clay about 20 years ago after being inspired by enormous blue porcelain wall tiles at a new Japanese airport especially the water-like quality of the blue glaze.
The Peak District Pennine landscape and seasons are the backdrop to everything Timothy does. He makes pottery on the border between function and sculpture: in essence vases, bowls, bottles and cups, though these are really just what he calls 'serving suggestions'. His work is multiple-fired, often starting with the wood kiln and ending with lustres.
Ali Tomlin creates wheel thrown porcelain. Focusing on the smooth, white surface the quality of porcelain for making clean, elegant shapes creates a canvas for her careful decoration, adding colours and marks she creates her well known range of contemporary ceramics.
Kyra Cane grew up in the small Nottinghamshire town of Southwell in the East Midlands and attended Camberwell College of Art and Craft in the early 1980’s to study Ceramics. Kyra now works from her studio based on the Welbeck Estate, Nottingham.
Lea Phillips makes a wide range high fired stoneware pottery, mostly functional plus some larger one-off pieces. All the ceramics are wheel-thrown, fired in an electric kiln and decorated with free abstract designs using vibrant colourful glazes made to her own recipes. A firm believer that oxidised firing is no barrier to interesting surfaces Lea enjoys glaze development and the challenge of combining form, colour, and pattern.
Jihyun began working with ceramics in 2016 while studying in the Arts and Crafts department at Sookmyung Women’s University in South Korea. There, she developed fundamental ceramic skills and an understanding of how to plan and execute projects. After graduating, she moved to London to pursue a Master’s degree in Ceramics and Glass at the Royal College of Art.
As a child, her love of doodling and illustration led her to dream of becoming an illustrator. At university, she was mesmerised by the way clay allowed her to transform imagined forms into tangible objects. The process—from building to firing—felt like bringing a living creature to life.